From January 2018, VSF-Suisse has a new face at the head office in Bern: Christian Wirz, the new programme manager for West Africa. Christian Wirz is an expert in sustainable land use and will be a great support for our team in this area and many others. You will immediately recognize his passion for rural development in the following interview.

Kevin is from Kenya and he grew up in a farm, which fueled his love for animals and drove him to veterinary studies.

How development and emergency assistance are taking place in South Sudan, a country facing famine and conflict? What are the main challenges for VSF-Suisse in this country? Click here and discover the answers in Kevin’s interview!

Since November 1st, VSF-Suisse has a new director in Togo: Géraud Hellow. The 34-year-old Cameroonian studied veterinary medicine in Senegal and completed a Master in the sector of livestock production in France. Before assuming his present function at VSF-Suisse, Géraud Hellow worked for the FAO for two years, first as a field officer and later as a coordinator in the area of food security. What he likes most about his work is the direct contact with no-mads and small farmers and to contribute to the improvement of their living conditions.

Born in Kenya, Justus Namatsi is working as a Project Officer for VSF-Suisse in both his native country and Somalia, two countries that are fighting recurring droughts.
What drives him in his work with us? His aspiration to “alleviate sufferings, and transform the lives of the most vulnerable members of the community to enhance self-reliance through our interventions.”

Read here our interview of Justus to learn how we organize emergency assistance in context of crisis and discover the many similarities between the pastoralists in Kenya and Somalia!

For drought to no longer be synonym of catastrophe, efforts need to be maintained over time. Improving access to water, enhancing vet health services or strengthening the herders’ capacities so that they can continue to feed their livestock even in times of crisis: those initiatives contribute to save lives and they are at the very centre of our important project to fight drought in Somalia, about which you can read here.

In Isiolo County (Kenya), herders usually live far away from veterinary health services. With the local veterinary authorities and our partner Biovision, we trained 18 members of the local communities in animal diseases reporting, and we equipped them with a smartphone. Thus, they are now able to diagnose and report the herds’ diseases to Isiolo’s veterinary services, who can then act quickly to stop the diseases’ propagation.

Discover in French or German how technology helps herders and veterinary health services to treat animals’ diseases!

This activity is part of the project UPICAM, which you can find here and there.

“During the training session provided by VSF-Suisse, we were asked to list the benefits we get by keeping donkeys. I was surprised by how many there were. Our donkey even helps us to raise money for family members to get medical attention at the clinic, but strangely, it used to be the last one we took to the vet when sick!”
Aweng Anyuon (South Sudan)

In many countries, donkeys help the inhabitants for land cultivation and they transport water as well as commodities. Nevertheless, their well-being and their health are often neglected.

Find here our project in South Sudan to improve equine health. Our staff vaccinated and dewormed Aweng’s donkey, which helped him to be more resistant. Today, Aweng follows the advices provided by our teams to treat her animal. And the results are here: her donkey is now in good health but also more productive. “Today, I make it a point that he is well fed after work, explains us Aweng, and has rest and water.”.Aweng’s donkey is now not only a work instrument, but also a friend and a member of the family.

Veterinarians and their clients support the ongoing training of smart young people in Africa: thanks to the commitment of veterinarians throughout all Switzerland, our 2017 “Vaccinate for Africa” week has already raised 37'141 Francs.
This event was made possible by the support of our sponsor Virbac Schweiz AG who sponsored our expenses.

Thanks so much to all of you!

You are a vet and did not have the opportunity to take part in this activity during the proposed dates? No problem, you can still participate during any week of your choice!
To participate, click here or send us an e-mail: info@vsf-suisse.org.

A huge thank you to all the participants and particularly the clinics who have already paid their contribution!

For our project in Gedo, Somalia, we are hiring a Food Security and Nutrition Officer, a Hydrologist/Water Engineer, a Field Veterinarian, a Field Officer, and three Field Assistants. Please find the complete job descriptions here.

Moreover, we are hiring an Animal Husbandry Officer for our project in the "Somaliland" region. You can find the full job offer here.

We are looking forward to receiving your application as soon as possible!

In summer 2016, veterinarian Dr. Abdoulaye Diaouré has been appointed Country Director Mali and Representative West Africa for VSF-Suisse. The 56-year-old Malian, who has formerly studied and worked in Ukraine, Cameroon, Niger and Mali, is from now on coordinating and supervising our projects in all of West Africa.
Abdoulaye speaks 9 languages and, aside from working, loves to watch his favorite football teams on TV as well as do some sports himself.

Save the date! From May 15th to May 20th our traditional vaccination campaign “Vaccinate for Africa” will take place. Participating Swiss vets will donate part (or the total) of this week’s revenues from vaccinations to VSF-Suisse. This year the donations will support trainings of young people in our 6 African countries.

Vets and veterinary clinics who haven’t yet subscribed to participate in “Vaccinate for Africa” can catch up on it via our website or organize the vaccination week at a later stage. There you can also find a step-by-step guide for vaccination week.

All the pet owners and animal lovers who are searching for vets who participate are welcome to take a look at this list.

Our heartfelt thanks go out to all the participants who make this traditional campaign happen! We wish you all the best and a lot of vaccinations!

What characterizes pastoralism? What challenges are facing pastoralists around the world, and how can we respond to them to combine pastoralism with sustainable development?

Click here to find out the answers (and some others!) in this infographics realized by VSF International, who consulted over 200 pastoral representatives from 38 countries in Africa, Latin America and Asia.

“I have the responsibility of fetching water, keeping food safe and ensuring environmental hygiene where I raise my children. I am also the one preparing the food for the household and understood the big responsibility I have.”, Ablo Hassen, 24 years old, Ethiopia

In the vast majority of countries, women are among the most vulnerable members of the households and communities. Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse is strongly committed to gender equality and many of our projects have a particular focus on women – see here or here for instance.

In rural societies, women play a pivotal role in food and nutrition security, they are responsible to grow food, process livestock milk or feed the livestock in addition to ensuring the well-being of their family.

For all of these reasons, we are happy to present you here the preliminary findings of our research project with Transform Nutrition on how pastoral-community platforms can participate in promoting optimal maternal infant and young child nutrition practices, including some insightful case studies such as the story of Ablo Hassen.

In the november issue of the Swiss veterinary magazine "SAT - Swiss Archives for Veterinary Medicine", we published a report on our projects in Kenya. As always, you'll find these exciting stories containing a lot of information on camels in our "publications" section, or alternatively here: Click!

The support of Swiss veterinarians and related professions is a crucial requirement for enabling Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse to fulfill its project activities in Africa. That’s one of the reasons we are keen on maintaining personal contacts with our supporters. We are excited to get to know all of you a little better each time we meet you at one of our events.

Together with Swiss Solidarity, we support the pastoralists in Ethiopia to overcome the effects of a devastating, long drought and subsequent floods. Our team on-site distributes water and food. You can help too! Read more about it here.

On May 12th and 13th the 4th Annual Swiss Vet Days will take place in Lausanne, where we will be present with our own stand. We are looking forward to meeting you there, having Ethiopian coffee together and discuss our engagement for the African people in need who are dependent on their livestock. See you there!

VSF-Suisse is hiring! We are currently looking for a Country Director Mali (70%) and Regional Representative East Africa (30%). We encourage all qualified persons to apply today! Simply click here to read the full job advert.
Furthermore, our team in Kenya is looking for a Field Veterinarian as well as Tenders for Breeding Camels. Click here and here to learn more on these great opportunities!

From 15th to 16th February 2016 the 6th global Farmers' Forum will take place in Rome. Later, the IFAD Governing Council will be held from 17th to 18th February. There will also be a special session on pastoralism on 12th February as well as several side events on 18th February. VSF International staff has been invited to participate as observers at both the Farmers' Forum and the Governing Council.

Swiss animal lovers and veterinarians support their colleagues in Africa: 75 veterinary clinics managed to raise 37,473 Francs during our 2015“Vaccinate for Africa” week. Thanks to Virbac Schweiz AG who sponsored all our expenses we were able to pull off this campaign in 2015. Thanks so much to all of you!

Abdirashid is one of our earliest staff in the Ethiopia country office. As a pastoral born person he returned to his country of birth after having gotten his education abroad. He is driven by the desire to help his people activate their cultural strength. Change, he says, can only come from the people themselves. Check out his interview to learn about his upbringing, and his professional past, as well as what it was like being a camel herder at the age of only 6!

Nicole Litschgi is Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse’s programme manager for West Africa and Ethiopia. This summer she went to Ethiopia for a few weeks and visited VSF-Suisse’s regional offices in Addis Ababa, Gode, and Moyale. She experienced and learned much, and came back with a lot to tell. A short travel summary as well as an extensive elaboration on the major risks occurring due to the drought can be found on our website. You might also want to check SAT | ASMS magazine’s November issue: Here.

From the 1st to the 5th of June 2015, the 10th campaign “Vaccinate for Africa” will take place. During this week, Swiss veterinaries donate part of their income from vaccinations and other services to vaccinate animals and to train vets in Africa.

Genevieve Atieno Owuor from Nairobi has been working for VSF-Suisse for six and a half years, as a milk-technician. Read more about her work and on a funny moment she experienced in the remote area of Diff.

In January our five Country Directors travelled to Switzerland, where they spent a week in a chalet in the little village of Habkern, together with the team from the VSF-Suisse headquarter. Read more about what we did during this week.

On Monday November 24th 2014 the "One-Health-Concept regarding Ebola"- Conference was held at the Vetsuisse-Faculty of the University of Berne, organised by VSF-Suisse. Even though the six African countries where VSF-Suisse is working are not all directly affected by Ebola, there is still a lot of unease and anxiety about the epidemic. Furthermore VSF-Suisse is invested in the concept of "One Health", an interdisciplinary strategy concerning the interlink between human medicine and veterinary medicine.

VSF-Suisse is happy to be a part of the first International Scientific Conference on Health (IGAD) in Addis Ababa this week from 3 – 6 December. The theme of the conference, "Innovative approaches for equitable access to health services among pastoralist communities and cross border mobile populations", tackles the recurrent drought-induced emergency nutrition situation in Ethiopia’s Somali Regional State.

The VSF-Suisse conference "The One Health concept and Ebola" on Monday, 24th of November 2014 with Jakob Zinsstag (Swiss TPH), Isabelle Güss (Children's doctor and member of the Swiss Red Cross) and others will be transferred via teleteaching to Zurich. Place: Teleteaching lecture room Y35 - F51, University of Zurich, Uni Irchel. We are looking forward to seeing many of you at the conference in Zurich!

The board of VSF-Suisse has elected Dr. Martin Barasa as the new country director for the South Sudan. Barasa holds a bachelor degree in veterinary medicine (BVM) from the University of Nairobi and a master degree in development studies from the University of St. Paul’s in Limuru, Kenya. Many of us have know Martin Barasa for several years now, since he has worked for VSF-Suisse for 14 years, namely as a team leader for the South Sudan programme. Due to his professional background, his lengthy experience within VSF-Suisse and his dedication to the beneficiaries of the programmes in the region will enable him to take on this great challenge and successfully push forward the South Sudan programme. Read more in the following interview with Martin Barasa.

On Friday, 29th of August, VSF-Suisse took part at the Annual Development Cooperation Conference held at the Arena in Geneva. At 11.30, the conference opened its doors where the exhibition with the different NGOs presented an interesting overview of ongoing projects in regards to this year’s topic of the conference, climate change. VSF-Suisse presented its project ELSIR, talking about livelihood support to improve resilience of pastoralists in Ethiopia.

“Saving the climate, fighting poverty” – This is the topic of this year’s annual conference of Swiss Development Cooperation. VSF-Suisse will join the annual conference on Friday, 29th of August 2014 with a stand.
Save the date and come visit us at the Geneva Arena.

Due to the anniversary of the vet-service Switzerland, Dr. med. vet. Rolf Hanimann, president of the Swiss Association of Regional Veterinaries (VSKT), has handed a cheque of CHF 5'000 to Ulrich Kihm, president of VSF-Suisse. VSF-Suisse is largely dependent on such donations and thus feels very pleased about the exemplary generosity of organizations such as VSKT.

Helping people help themselves - this is the approach which guides the work of VSF-Suisse!

Find interesting examples of our work in the field in the Annual report 2013: Whether it is the strengthening of milk value chain in Mali, environmental and child protection in Togo, empowerment through schools in Ethiopia or goats for former child-soldiers in South Sudan.

The call for donations “Save VSF-Suisse” has been very well received. More than 200’000 francs have been collected. Therefore, I would like to thank all the donors – no matter how big the amount was – from the bottom of my heart. Even though we have not yet entirely overcome all the difficulties, we can now be assured that we have a solid base of friends who support us and believe in our commitment. This gives us hope for the future.

VSF-Suisse has a new Executive Director since the beginning of the year. Daniel Bolomey, 61 years old, can call on many years of experience in leading NGOs. For more than 25 years, he worked for Amnesty International as well in Switzerland as abroad. From 2001 to 2011 he was the Secretary general of the Swiss section of Amnesty International. After this mandate he held the position as special adviser to the Secretary general in London before he returned to Switzerland and joined trisapect SA, a private consulting office. Today we are happy to announce, that he is heading for a new adventure with Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse!

THANK YOU! AND KEEP IT UP!

We have achieved the goal set for December: We reached the 100’000 francs mark and many of you have demonstrated their solidarity! Thank you from the bottom of our hearts! Nevertheless, to entirely restore VSF-Suisse’s financial health, we need some 200 additional friends who support us with 1’000 francs. Don’t hesitate and be also part of those who save VSF-Suisse! Of course, all other contributions are welcomed as well…

The first 100’000 CHF are the most difficult to get, they say. Make a donation of 1000 CHF and you automatically join the Friends of VSF-Suisse Club. We need 55 more friends of VSF-Suisse to reach 100’000 francs before the end of the year.

Or are you responsible for the rise of our barometer in the past week? In this case, we thank you from all our heart for your initiative to be of the first people who expressed their confidence and supported us!

If you have already spent most of your money for fancy Christmas gifts, just open your purse and donate what is left. Every little helps…

VSF-Suisse needs your help! Read in the letter of VSF-Suisse's president woh you can help:

Dear friends

For now more than four years I have been president of Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse (VSF-Suisse). Four years ago, I took over the presidency of a weakened organisation which today, thanks to stringent restructuring measures, is working more professionally on all levels. Never before, the projects and finances were managed as professionally as today. Tough paradoxically, the future of VSF-Suisse has never been as unsure as today.

It’s been 25 years since a group of young veterinarians decided to fund Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse. To celebrate this anniversary we kindly invite you to visit us at the OLMA in St. Gallen on the 16th of October at 2 pm. The symposium is organised together with the Society of Swiss Veterinarians and contains a number of interesting presentations around the subject "Healthy animals – healthy people". Therefore, two co-workers will be arriving directly from Africa to present their every day work experiences. Don’t miss this opportunity and join us!

The network Vétérinaires Sans Frontières International was created over 20 years ago and advocates for small scale farmers in rural areas whose livelihood depends on livestock. Watch the video and discover how we work and what goals we pursue...

The annual report of the Swiss international cooperation has just been published. It gives an overview of the most significant results of Switzerland's commitment to combating poverty as well as its contribution to the reduction of global risks in a year. VSF-Suisse is part of this commitment; read how we combat climate change with camels on page 14.

VSF-Suisse has a face! Throughout 2012 we will present to you a series of portraits of the people that make up Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse. After Bonny Wilkinson, our Executive Director, you will now meet Eddy Botela, our project coordinator in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). For 10 years now this trained economist has been working for Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse assiduously and enthusiastically. Our colleague Nicole Litschgi met him on her field visit to Goma.

On Sunday, 12th February was the international day against the use of child soldiers and the 10th anniversary of the Optional protocol to the Convention on the rights of the child on the involvement of children in armed conflict. According to UN estimates approximately 250’000 children remain active in armed forces and groups. The children are used as porters, cooks, messengers and also as combatants. Many are recruited forcefully and especially girls suffer from sexual violence and they often return from the war either pregnant or with small children. The return to their families and communities is difficult for these children as they are stigmatised. Their families are also often poor and that poses a risk of returning to the armed forces out of sheer economic despair.

Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse has been active for several years in the social re-integration of former child soldiers through goat rearing both in the DR Congo and South Sudan. The families accommodating former child soldiers receive a small herd of goats which allows them to generate additional income. With this income they can cover basic family needs.

Read what Lucien, a beneficiary of the social re-integration project in North Kivu, DRC, has to say:

In East Africa the majority of the rural population depends on livestock for their livelihood. One of them is Jillo Jirma Guyo: the 62 year old is the head of a family of 14 and during the drought periods between 2007 and 2009 he lost 38 cows and 60 goats - the livelihood of the family.

Since January, VSF-Suisse has a new executive director. Bonny Wilkinson joined us last June and is now taking over the reins of the organisation – with determination and energy. Although she has respect for the new task, the 34 year old woman is also looking forward to the challenge and a new wind has started blowing at VSF-Suisse. Meet Bonny Wilkinson.

Today we set off to the Duma borehole. It is another dusty day and the road takes us out of Merti, past the village where we had witnessed the slaughter de-stocking and into one of the most incredible landscapes. Flat as far as the eye can see and most of the time there’s barely any vegetation. The desert. On the road we keep seeing herds of camels, goats and cattle guided by their herdsmen. They are like a fata morgana, a strange apparition on the horizon, partially obscured by the sand in the air.

I wake up in the morning to the sound of the howling desert wind, the muezzin calling for prayer and the cries of goats, donkeys and cockerels. I venture outside where it’s already warm and stand in the wind watching the sun rise behind the town. Today we are going to Korbesa to see slaughter de-stocking. This method is used in times of prolonged dry spells and droughts to ensure survival of herds and to provide vulnerable families with cash injections and meat.

Groggily I scramble out of bed at 4am, slip on some clothes and pack my bags. The wind is howling outside, blowing a fresh breeze through the windows. At five o’clock sharp we set off from Isiolo in the car. As we wait for the second car to pick up Aden Ali Muhamed and Omar Hassan, the two men whose camel herds we are visiting, we munch on some chapatti and boiled eggs admiring the endless starry sky above us.

Two months ago our new colleague Bonny Wilkinson traveled to the north of Kenya and on this impressive journey she experienced the drought first hand. But the trip also illustrated the importance of the interventions of Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse in the affected communities. Read the first part of her travel journal that will be published throughout December here…

Pastoralists are able to survive in some of the most arid lands of Africa. However their way of life is under threat. The increasing frequency of drought, coupled with rapid population growth and inadequate government and humanitarian policies have combined to limit de most essential coping strategy of pastoralists - mobility.

With funding from the European Commission's Humanitarian Aid Department, VSF-Suisse, Belgium and Germany have combined their experience in the arid and semi-arid lands of Northern Kenya and border regions of Uganda, Ethiopia and Somalia to implement the Improved Community Response to Drought project.

Rather than providing significant levels of external support, this project enables pastoralists to build on their own knowledge and to utilise their existing assets more effectively to better prepare for and cope with droughts.

The initiatives shown in this video have been implemented over the course of nine months, proving that short term emergency funding can be used to build solutions, rather than simply responding ot the same reoccurring problems. Funding solutions mean that the initiatives can be built into longer term responses enabling these communities to work their won way out of poverty towards a brighter future.

In Goma in the Democratic Republic of Congo Jeanne Kiza Mawazo sells the eggs which she has gained from her chicken farm that she has establish thanks to the support of Vétérinaires Sans Frontières Suisse. This allows her to generate an income after losing everything due to the eruption of the volcano Nyirangongo in 2002. (Video in French)

Ilona Glücks, a veterinarian and the VSF-Suisse camel resource person, has been promoting the use of camels as a major source of livelihood in the arid lands of Africa for ten years now. At the Cancun Climate Change Summit she explained why pastoral communities that have traditionally herded cattle, sheep and goats across these lands are switching to camels – a wise choice, driven by the drought.

It is six in the morning and the people of Gither rise to their newly launched community activity to survive the effects of drought. An activity filled with hope that will help them survive the droughts that keep hitting their lands. Men, women both young and old all gather their tools to rush to the dam that they are desilting and that will ensure their survival once the rains return. VSF-Suisse has set this project in motion: the work is paid and the community benefits from it.